Apush Vietnam War

The 1960’s and 70’s were filled with turbulent changes. The US was still reeling from containment and its domino policy, leading it to believe that it had the right to exercise influence in foreign affair. One foreign affair was known as Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the longest war in the nation’s history. This war, from both abroad and at home, drastically changed the society of America, socially, economically, and politically. It caused for much anti-war sentiment and fueled the counter culture movement, it caused inflation and contributed to the stagflation, and brought down Johnson’s reputation and caused for several changes in legislation. While the Vietnam War raged on, other movements rose up, such as the Civil Rights movement and the counter culture movement. This war was also the first “TV war”, meaning that there was national coverage on the atrocities of the war overseas, including the bombing of innocent women and children. This brought anger and sympathy from the public and brought up antiwar sentiment. The antiwar sentiment dropped the morale of the common soldier. James Morale describes the young men who were drafted as cattle off to slaughter (Doc F). It was not common for a soldier to flee the draft. The army had a high ratio of black and poor people. Martin Luther King Jr., a leader of the civil rights movement, spoke out against this, asking why black people were fighting for rights that they themselves did not have (Doc C). In the 70’s Black power arose, calling for Black Nationalism. Carmichael and Malcolm X were contemptuous against whites and white superiority, sometimes advocating violence when necessary. In the midst of this was the counter culture movement. The counter culture movement was about free love, experimenting on drugs, and both anti-establishment and anti-war. An epitome of the counter culture movement was the song, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die”. It mocked the Vietnam War for its pointlessness, all the dying for nothing,